occurrence
Americannoun
-
occurrences
plural
-
the action, fact, or instance of occurring.
-
something that happens; event; incident.
We were delayed by several unexpected occurrences.
- Synonyms:
- circumstance
noun
-
something that occurs; a happening; event
-
the act or an instance of occurring
a crime of frequent occurrence
Synonym Usage
See event.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of occurrence
1530–40; < Latin occurrent-, stem of occurrēns (present participle of occurrere “to run up to, run to meet”), from oc- (variant of ob- ; see ob- ( def. )) + currere “to run” + -ence; compare Medieval Latin occurrentia
Explanation
An occurrence is an instance of something or a time when something happens. If you get migraines, the doctor might ask how many occurrences of the headache you have in a month. An occurrence is an instance of something that happens repeatedly. The occurrence of Lyme disease is more frequent in New England than it is in other parts of the country. As soon as authorities see an occurrence of rabies, they send warnings out to people who live in the area. Sometimes though, an occurrence is a single event or an incident. If you and your friend saw a ghost in the cemetery, that would be quite an occurrence!
Vocabulary lists containing occurrence
Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 4
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Otherwise the label can be selected or rejected for almost any destructive, unusual or frightening occurrence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Mountains of debris are a common sight, and issues with the power grid make blackouts a regular occurrence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Smoke and fires are a normal occurrence here in the US Pacific Northwest every summer, as residents wait for the autumn rains to arrive.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
This has been a relatively rare occurrence in the U.S. — but it does happen.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Where a nova could possibly be regarded as a miracle, a comet was too commonplace an occurrence to be handled in this way, so if comets were supralunary phenomena, Aristotle was wrong.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
No sooner does a lost flashlight she loved as a girl mysteriously reappear than Gemma’s nights suddenly start filling with creepy occurrences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Foodborne disease outbreaks caused by viruses, bacteria like E. coli, or microscopic parasites like Cyclospora are fairly regular occurrences.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
In this ecosystem, there are no longer any natural occurrences.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Documenting such occurrences can bolster your allegation of ageism.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Whether we call them coincidences, synchronicities, or ironies, however, these occurrences are much more common than most people realize.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
